Hey guys, this is a short little story about Thalia right after TLO and some of the feelings she has about Luke... Anger, sadness, what else? And me trying to keep it from disappearing while I work on word count.
I'd started off totally blubbering. Sobbing and asking why it had to happen to him. Then something inside of me hardened and I came to my senses. Was I really mourning the loss of someone who had ALMOST caused the fall of Olympus? NO! I hate Luke. Every bit of me hated Luke. That... That... MONSTER!
He'd willingly hosted Kronos! He'd betrayed me, and Annabeth, Hades, even Percy!
I.
Hated.
Him.
I snapped one of my arrows, Artemis watching sadly.
"You liked the boy didn't you?"
"Liked. Past tense, SO past tense. I hate him now."
"Boys are... Dangerous. More dangerous than celestial bronze to the heart. Never let one get to you, Thalia Grace."
"Never again." I promised. A searing pain coursed through my body. Is this what Hate feels like? Must be. Someone who'd been like a brother to me, a first crush... A brother to me a brother to Annabeth. My HERO, gone. Evil and gone... I'd never forgive him. He'd broken me.
Firing arrows into the night. I've got to take my anger out on someone, something. I couldn't tell what I was shooting, it didn't matter. The thwip of the arrow against the wind was enough.
I didn't need Luke. I'd never needed Luke. I was Thalia Grace! DAUGHTER OF ZEUS! I didn't need Hermes spawn. I didn't need him...
So why was the voice in my head telling me otherwise?
"SHUT UP!" I yelled, starting to cry. Someone dropped in beside me, one of my fellow huntresses, Willy Evergreen, who had been with the huntresses since 2001 and looked fourteen, she had long brown hair and was prettyish.
"Shooting in the dark is dangerous." She said absently, pulling out her bow and joining me.
"I don't care." I say through gritted teeth, no longer able to enjoy the swish of the arrow.
"Look, Thalia, I know you're upset about Luke... We all used to be silly love sick girls. You'll get over it." That made me angry.
"He was my best friend! And for the longest time... Yeah, I did like him. But not anymore. I just don't know what to feel." Willy smirked. The nerve, SHE SMIRKED. I kicked her in the shin.
"You should leave." I growled.
"Whoa, Thalia... You're tense, maybe you shouldn't be hunting for awhile. I'm going to go talk to Artemis."
"Then do that!" I just wanted to be alone! He'd wanted me on his side for Olympus's sake I was this close to joining his cause! I would have helped Olympus fall and changed the world forever, but not in the good way. I would have... I would have...
No. I couldn't cry, I told myself that. I... I'm stronger then that. I never needed Luke. But the time we had together, just him, Annabeth, and me, that was the best... The best...
After I'd lost my little brother, something NO ONE knew about, I was miserable, I thought I'd never be happy again. Then I met Luke. He became my brother. He was so nice and he never brought stuff like that up. Luke was the only one who knew about Jason. I haven't even told Annabeth, I can't. The way Luke got when I told him about Jason, he told me that the gods were ruining our lives and we had to figure out a way to not just be their little play toys. And I was all for it... Until I got turned into a tree. Dad had saved me... And Luke was corrupted... I didn't know what to do.
Luke was a hero, part of me says. But he was also a traitor. Luke poisoned you Thalia. He would have let your tree die. DIE. But Luke really loved you... Luke wanted you to be with him. He cared. He really cared. You could have been...
Oh shut up. I would have never been Thalia Castellan, and there's no reason why you should want that. You're a hunter. Be strong.
But Thalia Castellan...
No. You're a hunter.
Luke's the first friend I ever really had. I thought, I'd thought... That he'd never do anything to hurt me. He'd explained things in away that made since. Told me that we didn't have to be pawns in our parents' twisted games. But if it hadn't been for Zeus, I wouldn't have survived at all. Being a tree was awful, but now I get a new chance to live.
Sometimes I think he might have been right. Luke thought that the Olympians were no good, that life could be better and we shouldn't fight for him. If Zeus hadn't changed me into a tree I would have gone to Elysium. Maybe Luke would've still gone bad, but I wouldn't have to see him as a traitor.
I guess I'm just Bitter.
What ifs don't matter.
I'll never be Thalia Castellan.
And I'm done!
Whew. That took forever to write. I love writing Thalia. Flame me, hate me, throw me into tartarus so I can hang with Bob for all I care, but this is Thalia the way I see her. Except maybe the Thalia Castellan thing, that I took liberties with.